A history of rock music + A history of modern music | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/series/a-history-of-rock-music+series/a-history-of-modern-music
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Sun, 02 Aug 2015 21:20:55 GMT2015-08-02T21:20:55Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
What would you include in your version of rock history?http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/jun/12/history-rock-music
In a new seven-part series, Guardian and Observer writers are trying to tell the history of modern music. Today they pick 50 key moments in the story of rock, but we want to know yours ...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/interactive/2011/jun/11/history-modern-music-timeline" title="Interactive: Check out our 50 key moments in rock ">• See the interactive timeline</a><br /><a href="http://open.spotify.com/user/guardianmusic/playlist/3r6cJgDDlo6zgkfqJU9FVq" title=" Listen to our ultimate rock Spotify playlist">• Listen to our ultimate rock Spotify playlist</a><br /><a href="http://open.spotify.com/user/guardianmusic/playlist/7tpcZL1rwmMtl95ZuiP6y3" title=" Make your own ultimate rock Spotify playlists">• Make your own ultimate rock Spotify playlists</a><br /><br /><p>If you said you liked rock music in 1955, people would have an idea of what you meant. You would have been an admirer of the high-energy music of the American south, which combined elements of country, gospel and blues in a new, overtly sexualised form. Members of an older generation might have assumed you were some kind of delinquent, hellbent on rebellion. Say you like rock music in 2011, though, and you'll be pressed to clarify. You mean you like metal? Classic rock? Prog? Or just music made with guitars?</p><p>Rock is no longer a signifier of anything, let alone rebellion – 1955's teenagers are today's pensioners. Rock has evolved in myriad ways, soundtracking many of the social upheavals of the second half of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st. It's the musical accompaniment to the biggest cultural gatherings of our age – giant festivals that have sprung up around the world.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/jun/12/history-rock-music">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/jun/12/history-rock-musicTom Hill/GettyMilestones ... Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger in 1975. Photograph: Tom Hill/GettyTom Hill/GettyPhotograph: Tom Hill/GettyMichael Hann2011-06-12T00:00:02ZA history of modern music: Rock download the playlisthttp://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jun/12/rock-music-playlist-download
As part of the Guardian's summer of music, we are releasing a history of modern music. Download the rock playlist here<br />• <a href="#data">Get the data</a><br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jun/11/pop-music-playlist-download ">Download the pop playlist</a><p>As part of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music">Guardian's summer of music</a>, our critics have put together <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/series/a-history-of-modern-music">a history of modern music</a>. We'll be looking at a different genre every day, starting with a history of pop, then moving on to rock, hip-hop and R&amp;B, indie, dance, world and folk, and jazz.</p><p>For each genre our team of Guardian and Observer writers have compiled an ultimate playlist featuring the songs and artists that have made music what it is today. Our playlist today features from Sister Rosetta Tharpe with 'Strange things happening every day' in 1944 up to the more recent with Radiohead's 'House of cards' released in 2007.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jun/12/rock-music-playlist-download">Continue reading...</a>MusicPop and rockCultureNirvanaLed ZeppelinRadioheadSun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jun/12/rock-music-playlist-downloadFrank Micelotta/GettySmells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana is one of the hundred rock songs that has made it onto the Guardian's history of rock playlist. Photograph: Frank Micelotta/Getty ImagesFrank Micelotta/GettyNirvana. Photograph: Frank Micelotta/Getty ImagesAmi Sedghi &amp; Theresa Malone2011-06-12T00:00:00ZThe first rock'n'roll record is&nbsp;releasedhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/rock-n-roll-record
March 1951: Number 1 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Bill Haley's 1955 single Rock Around the&nbsp;Clock is generally credited as the&nbsp;record that popularised rock across the world, but it wasn't the first&nbsp;rock record. In fact, that title is hotly disputed, with contenders including Sister Rosetta Tharpe's Strange Things&nbsp;Happening Every Day (1944), and Roy Brown's Good Rockin' Tonight&nbsp;(1947). But the song that is usually recognised as the first true rock'n'roller is Rocket 88, recorded by Mississippi-born saxophonist/vocalist Jackie Brenston.</p><p>A bawdy swing/blues concoction with a raunchy sax break, it hymned a particular model of Oldsmobile and threw sexual innuendo into the mix with lines such as &quot;Everybody likes my Rocket 88/Baby, we'll ride in style&quot;. Where would a million future garage bands have been without it?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/rock-n-roll-record">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:50:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/rock-n-roll-recordMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesJackie Brenston. Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesJackie Brenston Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesCaroline Sullivan2011-06-11T23:50:00ZLittle Richard unleashes rock's transgressive possibilitieshttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/little-richard
October 1955: Number 2 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>In February 1955, the music that would become known as rock'n'roll was still latent. Bill Haley and the Comets were in the pop top 20 with Dim, Dim the Lights. Elvis Presley had recently released his third Sun Records single, Milkcow Blues Boogie. Fats Domino was nearing breakthrough. It was there, in the clubs, on the jukeboxes, and on the R&amp;B charts, but it was not yet&nbsp;named.</p><p>During that month, several men – and one woman in her mid-20s – were in a New Orleans studio trying to make&nbsp;a record. Producer Robert &quot;Bumps&quot; Blackwell knew the singer, the 22-year-old Little Richard (AKA Richard Wayne Penniman), was a star, but the music wasn't happening. Richard had already been through two record labels, RCA and Peacock. Time was running out.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/little-richard">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:49:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/little-richardFrank Driggs Collection/Getty ImagesLittle Richard (aka Richard Penniman) at the piano. Photograph: Frank Driggs Collection/Getty ImagesFrank Driggs Collection/Getty ImagesPortrait of American rock &amp; roll singer Little Richard (Richard Penniman) performing while standing at a piano Photograph: Frank Driggs Collection/Getty ImagesJon Savage2011-06-11T23:49:00ZThe Million Dollar Quartet become the first supergrouphttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/million-dollar-quartet-supergroup
December 1956: Number 3 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Carl Perkins was already scheduled to be recording in Sun Studios in Memphis on Tuesday 4 December 1956, with Jerry Lee Lewis. But it was chance that brought Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash along. When the four started playing together, studio engineer &quot;Cowboy&quot; Jack Clement set the tapes rolling and the next day a photo of the four, described as the Million Dollar Quartet, was in the local paper. The music they recorded was of little worth; the myth they spawned was rather more.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/million-dollar-quartet-supergroup">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureElvis PresleyJohnny CashJerry Lee LewisSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:48:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/million-dollar-quartet-supergroupGlenn A Baker/RedfernsThe Million Dollar Quartet Photograph: Glenn A Baker/RedfernsGlenn A Baker/RedfernsThe Million Dollar Quartet Photograph: Glenn A Baker/RedfernsMichael Hahn2011-06-11T23:48:00ZBuddy Holly dieshttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/buddy-holly-dies
3 February 1959: Number 4 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Buddy Holly was very important to Britain; he was almost single-handedly responsible for the sound and look of the Mersey groups. He was a new kind of hero, and he packed an indecent amount into his 22 years. For a start, he didn't look like a pop star, lacking the Hollywood gloss or weirdness of his contemporaries. In spite of this, he was defiant and narcissistic – he wanted the world and, pretty much, he got it. His group, the Crickets, was entirely self-contained; the vim of the three-piece on That'll Be the Day, Oh Boy, Rave On and Maybe Baby encouraged shy, bespectacled UK kids to dream of their own DIY pop. He was starting to move into an orchestrated sound and had already mastered the mixing desk when he died in a plane crash near Clear&nbsp;Lake, Iowa. That death – he&nbsp;was the first big rock star to die young – came to be a symbol of unfulfilled promise, remembered as &quot;the day the music died&quot; thanks to Don McLean's American Pie. And the widespread grief over the plane wreck in the snow finds its echo every time another generation loses one of its musical heroes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/buddy-holly-dies">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureBuddy HollySat, 11 Jun 2011 23:47:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/buddy-holly-diesMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesBuddy Holly circa 1957 Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesBuddy Holly circa 1957 Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesBob Stanley2011-06-11T23:47:00ZChuck Berry is imprisonedhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/chuck-berry-imprisoned
8 January 1962: Number 5 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>If part of rock's promise was the threat of danger, Chuck Berry embodied that threat. He'd served three years for armed robbery while still a teenager, before becoming one of the greatest of&nbsp;the first wave of rockers.</p><p>Like Jerry Lee Lewis, though, his sexual mores were not to the taste of many others, and in January 1962, he was sentenced to three years for transporting a 14-year-old waitress across a state line&nbsp;for immoral purposes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/chuck-berry-imprisoned">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureChuck BerrySat, 11 Jun 2011 23:46:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/chuck-berry-imprisonedGilles Petard/RedfernsChuck Berry Photograph: Gilles Petard/RedfernsGilles Petard/RedfernsChuck Berry Photograph: Gilles Petard/RedfernsMichael Hann2011-06-11T23:46:01ZThe Rolling Stones release the first Jagger/Richard hithttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/rolling-stones-jagger-richard
26 February 1965: Number 6 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>In early 1965, the Rolling Stones were in an exquisite quandary. They were the second biggest group in Britain by that point and rising fast in the US. But their popularity was based on covers of contemporary R&amp;B records and, in the case of their most recent UK No 1, Little Red Rooster, pure blues. Manager Andrew Oldham hustled Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to write their own songs and, after several false starts, The Last Time was the first one to be chosen for an A-side. It was a knock-off, of course, from This May Be the Last Time by the Staples Singers, but the Rolling Stones made the material their own. The meshing, droning guitars recede into ambient depth, while Mick Jagger's performance ranges from sadness and loss to – and this would become a trope – sheer&nbsp;vituperation.</p><p>Released in February 1965, The Last Time quickly went to No 1 in the UK, promoted by Mick Jagger doing the James Brown slide on Top of the Pops. Attitudinal, preoccupied with sound, groove and tone, it was one of the cornerstones – along with the Beatles' Ticket To Ride – of the emergent rock aesthetic.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/rolling-stones-jagger-richard">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureThe Rolling StonesMick JaggerKeith RichardsSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:44:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/rolling-stones-jagger-richardDavid Farrell/RedfernsRolling Stones Photograph: David Farrell/RedfernsDavid Farrell/RedfernsRolling Stones Photograph: David Farrell/RedfernsJon Savage2011-06-11T23:44:01ZEric Clapton creates the cult of the guitar herohttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton
April 1965: Number 7 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Nothing is more central to rock mythology than the cult of the lead guitarist. And no one did more to create that cult than Eric Clapton. He had already been a member of the Yardbirds before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the clearing house for guitarists, in April 1965. His two stints with Mayall saw his reputation grow to the extent that a famous graffito captured the popular appraisal of him among rock fans: &quot;Clapton is God.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureEric ClaptonSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:44:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-claptonGAB Archive/RedfernsThe Bluesbreakers. Photograph: GAB Archive/RedfernsGAB Archive/RedfernsThe Bluesbreakers Photograph: GAB Archive/RedfernsMichael Hann2011-06-11T23:44:00ZBroadcasting regulators&nbsp;boost the album formathttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/broadcasting-regulators-boost-albums
July 1965: Number 8 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>When the Federal Communications Commission ruled that broadcasters in major US markets could not duplicate programming on both their FM and AM frequencies, it probably didn't realise the boost it had given to underground rock. Faced with the need to fill hours of airtime cheaply, stations took to filling the hours on FM with DJs playing album cuts, creating a new radio outlet for music that would otherwise have been unbroadcastable, and birthing &quot;album-oriented rock&quot;, that staple of the following decade.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/broadcasting-regulators-boost-albums">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:43:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/broadcasting-regulators-boost-albumsJohn Pratt/Hulton ArchiveBritish disc jockey and television presenter Annie Nightingale relaxing at her home in Brighton with some of her records, December 1964. Photograph: John Pratt/Hulton ArchiveJohn Pratt/Hulton ArchiveBritish disc jockey and television presenter, Annie Nightingale, relaxing at her home in Brighton with some of her records, December 1964 Photograph: John Pratt/Hulton ArchiveMichael Hann2011-06-11T23:43:00ZThe Beatles have LSD explained to them by Peter Fondahttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/beatles-lsd-peter-fonda
August 1965: Number 9 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>There were psychedelic records before the Beatles made Revolver, but it took the Beatles to make psychedelia part of the mainstream. John Lennon's curiosity about LSD was piqued by a party at the Playboy Mansion when actor Peter Fonda tried to describe the drug's effects. &quot;I know what it's like to be dead,&quot; he said to George Harrison. &quot;You're making me feel like I've never been born,&quot; interjected Lennon. The encounter formed the basis of She Said, She Said, one of the band's first experiments with the new form.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/beatles-lsd-peter-fonda">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureThe BeatlesSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:42:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/beatles-lsd-peter-fondaAmerican International Pictures/MoviepixPeter Fonda in a scene from 'The Trip', 1966. Photograph: American International Pictures/MoviepixAmerican International Pictures/MoviepixPeter Fonda in a scene from 'The Trip', 1966. Photograph: American International Pictures/MoviepixMichael Hann2011-06-11T23:42:00ZBob Dylan is is accused of being a 'Judas'http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/bob-dylan
17 May 1966: Number 10 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Looking back, the rage at Bob Dylan's abandonment of political songwriting in favour of performing with a Fender Stratocaster and a rock'n'roll backing band seems utterly baffling. Folk fans' arguments – that it was evidence of dilettantism, of an arrogant remoteness, of a lack of commitment to a worthy cause, that you couldn't hear the words, that it was just too loud – have been trampled by the weight of rock history. If nothing else, the famous cry of &quot;Judas!&quot; that interrupted his performance at the Manchester Free Trade Hall on 17 May 1966 and the footage of outraged fans streaming out of other dates, carrying on as if they'd been personally insulted by his decision to &quot;go electric&quot;, tells you that the heightened, hysterical pitch of the online comment board is actually nothing new: &quot;Bob Dylan was a bastard in the second half,&quot; bellows one disgruntled patron. The most lasting effect of the whole controversy was not on Dylan, but on folk revivalism itself, which, ever after, was doomed to be labelled a bit fusty, boring and uncool by onlookers: the price you pay for trying to stop progress.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/bob-dylan">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureBob DylanSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:40:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/bob-dylanMark and Colleen Hayward/RedfernsBob Dylan. Photograph: Mark and Colleen Hayward/RedfernsMark and Colleen Hayward/RedfernsBob Dylan Photograph: Mark and Colleen Hayward/RedfernsAlexis Petridis2011-06-11T23:40:00ZJimi Hendrix comes&nbsp;to&nbsp;Englandhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/jimi-hendrix
August 1966: Number 11 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>If Eric Clapton created the cult of the guitar hero, Jimi Hendrix was to supplant him. Hendrix already had years on the US touring circuit as a backing musician when the former Animal, Chas Chandler, brought him to London, set him up with a band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and let him loose on the world. Hendrix transformed guitar playing, both in technique and showmanship. And, along the way, he wrote some pretty decent songs.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/jimi-hendrix">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureJimi HendrixSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:40:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/jimi-hendrixExpress/Getty ImagesThe Jimi Hendrix Experience at London Airport. Photograph: Express/Getty ImagesExpress/Getty ImagesThe Jimi Hendrix Experience at London Airport Photograph: Express/Getty ImagesMichael Hann2011-06-11T23:40:00ZLed Zeppelin formed by Jimmy Pagehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/led-zepplin-jimmy-page
September 1968: Number 13 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Back in 1968, Jimmy Page was a hard-nosed rhythm'n'blues session musician. When his then band the Yardbirds split, with a swathe of tour dates yet to play, Page assembled an outfit from acquaintances of acquaintances. And so arguably the greatest rock band of all time – Led Zeppelin – began as the New Yardbirds on a Scandinavian tour undertaken to escape lawsuits from irate promoters; with a bustle, rather than a bang.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/led-zepplin-jimmy-page">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureLed ZeppelinSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:38:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/led-zepplin-jimmy-pageJorgen Angel/RedfernsRobert Plant and Jimmy Page - The New Yardbirds (to become Led Zeppelin) – the first performance ever. Photograph: Jorgen Angel/RedfernsJorgen Angel/RedfernsRobert Plant and Jimmy Page - The New Yardbirds (to become Led Zeppelin ) - the first performance ever Photograph: Jorgen Angel/RedfernsKitty Empire2011-06-11T23:38:00ZBrad Plunkett invents the&nbsp;wah-wah pedalhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/brad-plunkett-wah-wah-pedal
November 1966: Number 12 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Jimi Hendrix didn't just have a British manager, bassist and drummer to thank for helping to focus his extraordinary but wayward talent. There was also Brad Plunkett of Vox – a company formed in Dartford, Kent – who invented the wah-wah pedal that was all over the Experience's records (and many other late 60s classics). Switching from mellow to sharp with the twitch of a toe, it became psychedelia's non-psychotropic aid.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/brad-plunkett-wah-wah-pedal">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureJimi HendrixSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:38:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/brad-plunkett-wah-wah-pedalRon Howard/Redferns(Left to right) Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix Experience) performing on 'Happening For Lulu' TV Show, using wah-wah pedal. Photograph: Ron Howard/RedfernsRon Howard/Redferns(Left to right) Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix Experience) performing on 'Happening For Lulu' TV Show, using wah-wah pedal Photograph: Ron Howard/RedfernsBob Stanley2011-06-11T23:38:00ZJim Morrison exposes himself on stagehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/jim-morrison-exposes-himself-stage
1 March 1969: Number 14 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>By 1969, the authorities had it in for Jim Morrison. The Doors were now at the forefront of the Dionysiac wing of the hippy movement, with all the altered states, carnality, disorder and disregard&nbsp;for authority that entailed. One hot, late night in Miami, a worse-for-wear Morrison baited the crowd at a gig, disrobing. The incident has gone down in rock lore as the beginning of the end for Morrison, who died two years later.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/jim-morrison-exposes-himself-stage">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:37:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/jim-morrison-exposes-himself-stageMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesJim Morrison, Frankfurt, September 1968. Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesJim Morrison, Frankfurt, September 1968 Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesKitty Empire2011-06-11T23:37:00ZSly and the Family Stone mix rock, funk, soul, psychedeliahttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/sly-family-stone-rock-psychedelia
3 May 1969: Number 15 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Sly and the Family Stone were the most good-time group since the Lovin' Spoonful. What they did with their fourth album, Stand!, wasn't rocket science – Sly Stone took the live excitement of the Stax Soul Revue, grafted on James Brown's completely functional, rhythm-as-a pure-state funk, and mixed in the heightened airs of psychedelia (the Family were from San Francisco, after all). It's just that no one else had thought of it, and no one else could have made it quite as tight and loose, as blessed and blithe spirited.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/sly-family-stone-rock-psychedelia">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSly StonePsychedeliaSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:36:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/sly-family-stone-rock-psychedeliaGAB Archives/GAB Archives / RedfernsSly and The Family Stone, circa early 1970s Photograph: GAB Archives/RedfernsGAB Archives/GAB Archives / RedfernsSly and The Family Stone, circa early 1970s Photograph: GAB Archives/GAB Archives / RedfernsBob Stanley2011-06-11T23:36:00ZBlack Sabbath is formed and metal is bornhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/black-sabbath-formed-from-earth
August 1969: Number 17 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>If there's one single event that pinpoints the birth of heavy metal's satanic image, it would be when a Birmingham band called Earth renamed themselves Black Sabbath. Guitarist Tony Iommi had already developed a down-tuned way of playing, to cope with the loss of fingertips in an industrial injury, and the combination of his doomy riffing and that name gave us the first true metal band.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/black-sabbath-formed-from-earth">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureBlack SabbathOzzy OsbourneMetalSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:34:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/black-sabbath-formed-from-earthEllen Poppinga - K & K/RedfernsOzzy Osbourne & Tony Iommi performing live onstage as 'Earth'. Photograph: Ellen Poppinga - K & K/RedfernsEllen Poppinga - K & K/RedfernsOzzy Osbourne & Tony Iommi performing live onstage as 'Earth'. Photograph: Ellen Poppinga - K & K/RedfernsMichael Hann2011-06-11T23:34:01ZTommy ushers in the era of&nbsp;the concept albumhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/tommy-pete-townshend
23 May 1969: Number 16 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>The most influential album in the wake of Sgt Pepper was the Who's Tommy, the fulfilment of the rock opera idea Pete Townshend had been banging on about since 1966. In keeping with previous Who albums, Tommy featured some crackling electric powerpop (Pinball Wizard, I'm Free), and a few comedy moments for Keith Moon and John Entwistle to let fly (Tommy's Holiday Camp, Fiddle About), but was stretched to double album length to accommodate the album's overriding concept (deaf, dumb and blind kid finds deliverance in amusement arcades). As a pop record it is patchy; as an opera it is badly executed. But it wasn't received that way in a world hungry to move forward.</p><p>Eighteen months before Tommy was released, the Moody Blues had been asked by their label, Deram, to record an album to showcase the company's latest studio equipment. Days of Future Past was loaded with mellotrons, snatches of poetry and minor key whimsy, wrapped up neatly as a suite to give it added gravitas. It, not Tommy, was the first concept album, but a tad too early – Tommy shouted louder and got the critical respect.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/tommy-pete-townshend">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureThe WhoPete TownshendSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:34:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/tommy-pete-townshendMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesThe Who in Tommy. Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesMichael Ochs Archives/Michael Ochs ArchivesThe Who In "Tommy" Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesBob Stanley2011-06-11T23:34:00ZWoodstock invents the&nbsp;mega-festivalhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/woodstock-festival
15-17 August 1969: Number 18 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock music<p>Just as the Glastonbury festival doesn't actually take place in Glastonbury, Woodstock didn't happen&nbsp;in Woodstock, either. The festival in Bethel, New York, took its name from a small town 43 miles away, where musicians such as Bob Dylan, the Band and Van Morrison began to congregate in the late&nbsp;60s, as&nbsp;hippies left the cities.</p><p>The idea was to stage an Aquarian gathering of the tribes. The reality involved semi-amateur promoters, ticketless hordes, rain, mud, no toilets, an outbreak of hepatitis and food shortages. On the scale of one to&nbsp;Altamont, of course, the carnage at Woodstock was small beer. As the acrid notes of Jimi Hendrix's deconstruction of the Star Spangled Banner faded, and the sun rose and the dust cleared, the lows were swiftly forgotten. Half a million people managed to enjoy an impressive cross-section of the bands of the era and go skinny dipping in a lake without anyone, seemingly, even having their best purple flares nicked. The financial reality? Warner Brothers bailed out the documentary of the festival, which in turn bailed out the organisers, who ended up $1.4m (&pound;865,000) in debt.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/woodstock-festival">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureWoodstockSat, 11 Jun 2011 23:33:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/woodstock-festivalBill Eppridge/Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImageJamming at the Woodstock music festival. Photograph: Bill Eppridge/Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImageBill Eppridge/Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImageJamming at the Woodstock music festival Photograph: Bill Eppridge/Time &amp; Life Pictures/Getty ImageKitty Empire2011-06-11T23:33:00Z